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A woman at the helm

UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission has the pleasure of congratulating Prof. Nadia Pinardi for her recent nomination as the Co-president of the WMO-IOC Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM).

JCOMM is an intergovernmental body of technical experts that provides a mechanism for international coordination of oceanographic and marine meteorological observing, data management and services, combining the expertise, technologies and capacity building capabilities of the meteorological and oceanographic communities.

Nadia Pinardi is the second woman to hold the post, after Savi Narayanan from Canada, who held this position from 2001-2005. Both of these distinguished experts were kind enough to share their stories for our Initiative for Women Marine Scientists, which aims to promote the equal presence of men and women in the marine sciences community. Though women have succeeded in breaking into many previously male-dominated fields in recent years, it is still unusual to find them in marine science and technology careers.

The initiative's first step was to highlight activities that include women in science, and promoting women scientists as role models for young women. To this end, women that have dedicated their lives to marine sciences and to the protection of the marine environment have agreed to share their stories, and to help us understand how UNESCO-IOC can work together with them in the promotion of gender equality.